MURFREESBORO — Middle Point Landfill responded to stench complaints by accelerating the installment of gas extraction wells, two large vacuums and a misting system, a company official said Wednesday.

The $2 million upgrades had been scheduled to take place in 18 months, but they should be completed within a couple of months, said Russ Knocke, vice president of communications and public affairs for Republic Services, the owner of Middle Point Landfill.

"We take any odor concerns seriously, so we accelerated those plans," said Knocke, adding that Middle Point Landfill wants "to be a good neighbor."

Knocke talked about the improvements while driving a pickup truck during one of his trips with reporters, photographers and others who were touring the Middle Point Landfill, located on 800 acres off East Jefferson Pike in the Walter Hill community north of Murfreesboro.

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Russ Knocke, VP, Communications & Public Affairs, with Republic Services, gives a tour of the Middle Point Landfill, in Rutherford County, on Wednesday, March 30, 2016.(Photo: Helen Comer / DNJ)

Among those who joined one of the tours is Steve Ayers, a Walter Hill resident who has complained about the stench. Ayers has also participated in recent grassroots meetings about the landfill odor with neighbors, Rutherford County officials, state lawmakers and environmental advocacy groups that included Statewide Organization Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Bring Urban Recycling to Nashville Today! and the Sierra Club.

"I'm more educated on how the landfill works and the protections they put in place to handle the runoff and the leachate (liquid from landfills)," said Ayers, whose Compton Road home on the East Fork of the Stones River is near the landfill. "It's fairly clear that any surface runoff and rain water has a place to go other than the river. Those systems seem to be working."

Middle Point Landfill has four 250,000-gallon tanks that treat the leachate with microorganisms. After treatment, the remaining liquid becomes sewage that's shipped to a treatment plant, said Knocke, whose publicly traded company is based in Phoenix.

Middle Point Landfill treats about 90,000 gallons of leachate per week, Knocke added.

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A cherry scented mist is pumped into the air at the Middle Point Landfill, in Rutherford County, to lessen the smell of the landfill.(Photo: Helen Comer / DNJ)

The landfill takes in 3,400 tons of trash per day from 50 to 75 trucks Monday through Friday and for a half-day on Saturday. Middle Point is closed on Sunday. About a million tons come in per year, Knocke said.

The volume of trash, however, makes it impossible to prevent the odor to please neighbors, such as Ayers.

"It's going to stink," Ayers said. "How can you possibly dump that much garbage in one area and it not stink up the area?" Ayers asked. "Therefore, if there's a cure, it's less volume."

The improvements will include going from about 200 gas extraction wells to around 240, Knocke said.

Middle Point Landfill directs trash to about a one-acre area at a time, said Knocke, whose company has 28 employees and 15 contract workers there.

The company estimates that the landfill will be full in eight to 10 years, but it could be sooner because of growth, said Knocke, noting that 27 counties in Middle Tennessee haul trash to Middle Point.

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Steve Ayers talks about the volume of trash contributing to the stench at Middle Point Landfill near his home in the Walter Hill community north of Murfreesboro. Ayers joined one of the tours of the 800-acre landfill Wednesday.(Photo: Scott Broden/DNJ)

Two local governments benefit from having a local landfill, such as Murfreesboro getting free tipping that's worth about $7 million to the city tax-paying residents, Knocke said.

Rutherford County's government also gets free tipping, as well as a host fee from the tipping fees charged to trash from other counties, and the two arrangements combined are worth about $2 million annually, County Solid Waste Director Mac Nolen said during a Wednesday phone interview.

"For the last several years the host fee has hovered right around $800,000 per year," Nolen said.

Given Middle Point will close within a decade, Murfreesboro and Rutherford County government officials plan to hire a consultant to craft a strategic plan for what to do next with trash and recycling materials. The Murfreesboro City Council recently approved seeking a consultant for a cost estimated to be $300,000 to $400,000.